Month: December 1996

Marketing Week looks into its crystal ball. Channel 5 will launch, Labour will win the election and media will go merger mad. But what does 1997 hold for you?

The Telegraph and the Audit Bureau of Circulations are to hold an emergency meeting today (Wednesday) to discuss the newspaper’s circulation amid claims by media buyers that figures are being devalued by promotions. The Telegraph is also understood to be threatening to sue the ABC for breach of confidence after it allegedly revealed its circulation […]

The frantic high street Christmas search for Buzz Lightyear disguises

In the US, the toy craze this Christmas is not for Disney’s Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear but a Tickle Me Elmo doll. Elmo is a loveable, high-pitched character from the legendary children’s series, Sesame Street. While in New York last week the Diary came face-to-face with puppeteer Kevin Clash, the strapping 6ft 3in African-American […]

The theme of International Distillers & Vintners Christmas party this year was an Irish one – to celebrate the success of Bailey’s Irish Cream, that favourite yuletide liqueur.

…a 2.8m television advertising campaign, through BMP DDB, breaks next month for MD Foods’ new launch – Lurpak Spreadable butter. The brand, which took more than two years to develop and is made in Denmark, has vegetable oil added to the cream to make it spread straight from the fridge. The campaign consists of two […]

Gaio yogurt, one of the first so-called “functional foods” to offer added ingredients with claimed health benefits, is likely to be axed in the UK. Gaio is produced by Lurpak butter producer MD Foods. The company is considering pulling the brand after poor UK sales and damaging publicity over its “misleading” health claims which featured […]

National Lottery branded phone card supplier CardCall is negotiating to sell a controlling interest in the business, worth an estimated 5m, to telecoms company MTT. The deal, which involves the purchase of 51 per cent of the company, could lead to a possible conflict of interest. Former Tory cabinet minister Sir Kenneth Baker is a […]

EMAP Elan is entering the health and fitness market with the test launch of a magazine, codenamed Project Vitality, planned for next spring. The title will be launched as a 100-page supplement with EMAP’s New Woman magazine. If the title does well in research, and boosts New Woman’s sales, the company will launch it as […]

Third time lucky for some – Torin Douglas now has his TV tuned to receive C5 but elsewhere the shambolic process continues. Torin Douglas is currently BBC TV’s media correspondent

News International has split from Ogilvy & Mather after less than a year. It has handed its 4m Sunday Times account to roster agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe, which already handles The Times account, worth 7m.

Coca-Cola is planning to challenge PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew with the launch of a rival product called Surge. Like Mountain Dew, Surge is a carbonated bright green, citrus flavoured drink which will have a high calorie and caffeine count. The drink will be less fizzy than other similar drinks. The US launch will be backed by […]

Recent regulation in Japan has opened up the drinks sector – big brewers now face competition from US and European alcoholic brands, plus a stream of micro-breweries.

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.’ But for whom? The OECD, the West’s most respected think tank, has given the UK a glowing report on its economic prospects. Sustained, low-inflation growth is within reach, and at a […]

Adidas UK, the sportswear manufacturer, has appointed textile director David Learmonth as head of marketing for its sports shoe department. Learmonth replaces Barry Hunter, who has been moved to Adidas’s Amsterdam operation. Learmonth has been with the company for more than ten years and will combine his role as head of textiles with the new […]